What's so hard about simulating fungi (indie devlog 4-5)

[@extremempsilvamps5851]

in the sapling. straight up "sporing it". and by "it", haha, well. let's just say. My fungus .

[@TofifiPlays]

Spore reference

[@Wobkerer]

​@@TofifiPlaysspores are things by which plants ferns and algae reproduce

[@manlikestrainsinnit]

​@@TofifiPlays showering is still an option

[@erikgat7640]

Like playing Spore with your piano

[@superhetoric]

reddit moment

[@samueltrusik3251]

The mycelium of fungi is a set of many thin tubes, running through the soil, so maybe you can represent that in the same way you do grass? With some tiles having an almost veiny appearance, signifying that there is mycelium there. I like fungi, and while I absolutely, 100% adore what you did, I would like to see them represented more fully. Maybe. If you have the time.

[@nilsnoel6628]

Yeah or a filter to show the soil occupation

[@Yan-chanx0]

also fungi reproduction, that is an interesting topic

[@nathnlturner68]

@@Yan-chanx0 Schizophyllum commune my beloved with 23K+ "sexes"

[@Just_a_guy909]

@@nilsnoel6628 That's a great idea

[@blubasaur9053]

Yeah. Maybe linking that to nutrient distribution would be cool.

[@MUGENanaya]

oh boy, another edition of the development of evolution simulation game The Sapling, the solo indie game project, that has two game modes: scenarios that task us to design an ecosystem to meet certain requirements, but also a sandbox where we can build our own algae, plants, and animals, turn on random mutations, and see how they evolve

[@7HEMUFFINMAN]

A gamemode where you would try to make one specific species the most succesful would be sick. You'd only get a limited amount of manual mutations every hundredth year or so, and there could even be support for duels (though multiplayer is probably the last thing a game like the sapling needs at the moment).

[@TheSapling]

I sometimes dream this sentence

[@anngriffin3790]

Let’s go we got psychedelic in the sapling before gta 6

[@radufieraru4178]

Well rockstar games has to work on more things then our friend her he works how he wants but rockstar games has rules that they Ned to obey

[@anngriffin3790]

@@radufieraru4178 true. Also may I suggest gramerly

[@anngriffin3790]

@@radufieraru4178 true. May I suggest grammarly

[@jaseb5120]

@@radufieraru4178 the joke, you:

[@Riley_The_Snailsquid]

i can feel the impending r/woosh

[@TealClaw2102]

Yoooooooo mushrooms! I’ve been waiting for mushrooms for a long time. Also, if this update is themed around scary stuff, and partially the deep sea, I think squid/octopus tentacles would fit really well! Best update I’ve ever seen in any game, by far.👏

[@gamingcat6034]

I think I’ve actually seen them in the parts list in the other episodes but I’m not sure

[@TealClaw2102]

@@gamingcat6034Yeah, an earlier episode had a few parts I think. Wasn’t much though.

[@janreyreyes7298]

Make mushrooms bioluminescent. Bioluminescene can increase chances of the fungi spreading if it is able to attract animals to spread the spores. Also mushrooms can have quality of being poisonous too.

[@siroguanella4165]

He should make mushrooms feed on dead bodies too

[@siroguanella4165]

Or even control small Animals like the cordyceps on earth

[@janreyreyes7298]

Highly unlikely to be implemented. Like even the fungus controls the animal how will it be an advantage in the game? In real life the fungus controls the animal to spread the spores in a place where it will likely be spread by the wind. Kinda too complex and unnecessary for this game.

[@Pantrons]

@@janreyreyes7298 it would add a bit more things to fungus otherwise its just gonna be a more sophisticated plant.

[@janreyreyes7298]

Well the fungus is meant to be an alternative plant organism minus the photosynthesizing. Probably fungi will be unique if there are environments which photosynthesizers can't flourish (dark areas) like on the forest undergrowth, deep sea for marine fungi, and caverns (if it'll be implemented).

[@Cyn_likes_corpses]

This man is doing an *incredible* job. He's doing everything alone. The coding, the graphics, the music. You are a freacking genius. I pove this game already. I've been following you since the beginning and I'm very excited for the final product. Tho, take your time, make it the best game you can. Much appreciation and support from Belgium (i actually forced my friends to watch all your devlogs lol)

[@TheCrimsonFallenOne]

I remember hearing somewhere that there used to be really big fungi that used to fill the same niches as trees. Maybe something could be done with that if the fungus editor is expanded more

[@WilliamLund-o1d]

Not the same niches, because fungi aren't photosynthetic, but there did used to be really tall fungi early in the terrestrial transition.

[@interface5389]

Prototaxites! There is discourse over whether they actually stood vertically but it is true they were massive, it could be cool if some of the earliest fungi tended to large sizes in absence of predators

[@lcbtaxconsultingsl]

I remember those from Birthdays the beginning! I don't think they filled the niches of trees like someone already said but yeah they were absolutely massive! They were sort of like oddly shaped pillars

[@GoodrichthysEskdalensis]

​@@WilliamLund-o1dI mean I've heard they may have been lichen and thus had photosynthetic symbionts (in the book Otherlands to be specific) but I'm not sure if that's the generally agreed idea.

[@jacobrutzke691]

My recommendation is too add mycelium and have a filter you can turn on that will show what tiles are colonized.

[@7HEMUFFINMAN]

Kinda like grass but without the tall straws

[@lexibyday9504]

I found the perfect form for a plant. Works in all conditions, assuming you can find somewhere to establish the species, and it always outcompetes the animals preventing them from evolving. I tried with multiple different starting animals to make sure. The secret is to make a tall plant with fruit at the top and leaves at the bottom. Herbivores can feed on the plant but can't stop it from reproducing. There's no incentive for animals to grow taller because the food is right there meaning all fruit will produce ofspring every time. The plant takes over the planet but no matter how long I run it for the plants keep the animals locked to their starting area. This made me curious so I added aditional starting animal species and they were able to all coexist because this plant provided plenty of food for herbivores to eat. I'm hoping the next update gives my animals new incentives to evolve that might see them finally posing a problem for my super plant. I will add, this game gets rough on my computer after a while so it could easily be that I'm just not running the game for enough millions of years.

[@7HEMUFFINMAN]

did you try birds?

[@lexibyday9504]

@@7HEMUFFINMAN I was trying to get something to evolve yes a fully fleshed out organism would eat the fruit. None of my starting organisms would evolve though.

[@7HEMUFFINMAN]

@@lexibyday9504 you could manually make one and see if it would be able to eat the fruit faster than the tree could reproduce

[@loganshark667]

I would make a terrible fungus joke... But I'll spore yall the pain.

[@HellCromeE]

Heh, what a fungi...

[@picklebulb1489]

😂😂😂

[@Misto_deVito6009]

Talk about Cap

[@Mr.Polymonstrum901]

Man I’m laughing to “death”

[@ChlorineJug]

We don't have mushroom for you're jokes

[@urlocalpagan]

Dude, idk if you’ll personally see this, but I admire that you put more love into your game development and create more exciting and intriguing content than whole ass companies and dev teams. We need more guys like you in the gaming world. Hella excited for this update, and every blog only increases the anticipation

[@TheSapling]

Took me a week, but I finally read your comment, thank you so much

[@Jurasicktrap]

The Sex and Sigma update is truly the update of all time

[@7HEMUFFINMAN]

literally everything anyone could ask for

[@jef_3006]

That's very sort of... innocent and optimistic feeling music for fungi. Which isn't a criticism, it's just not what I was expecting, especially since this is the scary & sexy update. This is music which very much sounds neither scary nor sexy.

[@Aaaaaaarrrpirate]

It’s very cottagecore, maybe sexy for leprechauns?

[@fernandovazquez1118]

I think it fits really well

[@vinsplayer2634]

Well were you expecting it to sound sexy?

[@jef_3006]

@@vinsplayer2634 Some versions of the psychedelic angle trend sexy.

[@fernandovazquez1118]

@@vinsplayer2634 Yeah that would be really weird, what like the weekend music??

[@Didomate]

Interesting looking fungus there...

[@Greyshi]

It is the sex update after all.

[@Darth_Niki4]

More like... funSUS! 👀 Ok, I''ll see myself out. It's the yeast I can do. 😌

[@LonelyFearr]

@@Darth_Niki4 Thanks for sporing me from these jokes

[@TherealNiqqa]

I knew someone's gonna comment this 😭🙏

[@blox4funbrosthecousins]

@@GreyshiGood Point

[@fanOfMinecraft-UAs_channel]

4:39 I love that mushroom. It's fun to pop when it's spores inside, and actually edible when it's fresher

[@casuary98]

Mushrooms and fungi in general require an update for themselves. They have way too many adaptations we have never seen neither in animals nor in plants. Speaking of which... I belive trees, climbing, gliding and sticky tounges (and perhaps the peculiar zoop lizard adaptation on it) will fit a lot in The Sapling, perhaps giving it a reason to bear the name. Another request, this for parts, is a microraptor's leg wings, yi wings, snake mouths, antenae and mole wiskers. This adds a whole new base to work with, adding the before mentioned gliding, venom spitting and pheromones. Mole whiskers could function as a niche substitute for eyes.

[@Leyva0scarVRL]

Most of this is already in game

[@CursedDoggiee]

YES ADD RAINWORLD LIZARDS TO THE SAPLING

[@Leyva0scarVRL]

@@CursedDoggiee a chamelon/frog tounge was literaly revelaed during one of the devlogs

[@CursedDoggiee]

@@Leyva0scarVRL another step closer to the ultimate goal: RAINWORLD LIZARD MWAHHAHAHAHAHAAA

[@shinysands]

@@CursedDoggiee😐

[@EuphemiaRem]

It’d be cool to see more exotic variants of fruiting bodies-shelf fungi and morels, for example. Could even pair them with rendering detritus as “fallen logs” made from the bodies of plants turned sideways. It could also be interesting to play with some real ecological history in terms of the distinction between woody and herbaceous plants, with wood requiring hardier decomposes to break down (which is why wood didn’t decay for millions of years on earth)

[@TheSapling]

Without making promises, I like these ideas!

[@goosehonk4110]

Man, i sure do hope that there isn't any boring men in the update And just some fungi's

[@antimateriaali]

The fungi should have a connection to each other like irl and that they also grow on plants, trees/fallen trees and dead animals (if you add dead bodies/carcasses and dead trees) and that the fungi also spread trought the root network, and that some trees need a certain fungi to work and that fungi needs that tree to work like irl

[@CreatorProductionsOriginal]

A “dead” forest and carcasses would fit a scary theme And bioluminescent mushrooms could fit the sexy theme

[@7HEMUFFINMAN]

@@CreatorProductionsOriginal I am scared to think how you would imagine glowing dots in the forest as "sexy" this guy is the reason for 99% of folklore wth

[@idioticed4379]

​@@7HEMUFFINMANmoody lighting

[@7HEMUFFINMAN]

@@idioticed4379 fair

[@alexhero8957]

Thank you so much for adding mushrooms to the game! An amazing update! I really hope that fungi in sapling will receive much more specialized body parts, features, diversity, so that the experience of creating them will be very different from the creation of plants and animals! I really want to see a variety of fungi, and their interaction with other types of living organisms. For example, animals can get sick after eating some types of fungi, it will be interesting because there are no diseases and bacteria/viruses in the game. Or that fungi can grow on dead meat or tree roots! I also wish fungi also had its own poison editor. It would be cool to see a mycelium editor (for example, it might look like a zone editing tool, the same as the soil editor) and be able to see which zones of the earth have which mycelium!

[@TheSapling]

Without making promises, I like a lot of these ideas!

[@thatweirdraccoon]

It would be cool if a mushroom were poisonous, and if creatures ate it and died near it, the detritus would increase a lot, or something like that.

[@sakakaka4064]

But if they survived (e.g. based on their larger body mass), they would trip encouraging them to eat more of the fungus. You could apply it to plants as well (real life examples are coffee or tobacco)

[@5dimensionlog]

I don't think he'll add tripping.

[@AverageWTPilot]

6:54 Dude that is probably the single best snippet of any soundtrack I have ever heard, you blended the theme in there better than any other composer ever could.

[@garamtf2]

“After 16 years, we hope it’ll be worth the wait!” -Gayestben Newell

[@Misto_deVito6009]

It would be cool if more sizes were a thing. So we can have megafauna and rodent-like creatures. Maybe even zooplankton if that's possible

[@TofifiPlays]

BRO I SWEAR I SAW MEGAFUNA AS BLUE COMMENT

[@SRMC23]

i can totally see him adding Zooplankton as a variation of algae.

[@extremempsilvamps5851]

​@@SRMC23And just like how algae can become plants, zooplankton can become aquatic animals

[@TofifiPlays]

@@extremempsilvamps5851 I dont think thats common

[@_Necrolithic]

Micropredators and parasites would be an epic addition.

[@Okamikurainya]

As there are carnivorous plants in the game already, it would be cool to see carnivorous fungi as well. One group of carnivorous fungi even live at the bottom of the ocean, IIRC.

[@GoodrichthysEskdalensis]

Carnivorous ocean fungi? I can't find anything on them but if they do exist they'd definitely be pretty cool. From a quick Google search it seems most carnivorous fungi simply poison prey and digest them, no pseudo-mouths or anything nessecary, which I imagine would make it hard to simulate. It could probably work with a spec evo twist.

[@Okamikurainya]

@@GoodrichthysEskdalensis I'm not sure if the ocean variants are carnivorous, but they share phylums with at least two deep ocean fungi: Ascomycota and I think Basidiomycota. But I brought up the ocean variants because it wasn't clear to me whether the Sapling Fungi would be limited to land or not. The video didn't have any examples of water based ones that I noticed. Oh, they do have some pretty trippy tools for ensnaring prey. Dripping goopy tall fruiting bodies, deep cups that trap prey like pitcher plants. Some of them look really alien.

[@shinysands]

carnivorous fungi dont need their own thing imo - if fungi can be poisonous, any animal that tries to eat it will die right by it, feeding it

[@Okamikurainya]

@@shinysands That's totally different, though... If it's eaten, it's eaten. That instance of it is dead or damaged. Not to mention, competitive fungi that feed on decomposing bodies might hustle into its' territory. If it is carnivorous, it eats and grows stronger, so long as it isn't injured by its' prey.

[@shinysands]

@@Okamikurainya its simpler and generally gets the same effect though

[@connormccreesh1893]

Not sure where's best for suggestions based on gameplay, but after maybe 20 hours here's a couple: Main QoL suggestions: 1. The game grinds to a halt about 50 millennia and beyond (which is a long time, but I was trying to slowly control evolution to get speciation across islands separated by strong currents, or temperature, or low winds etc., as well as trying to only mutate in branches). I'm guessing this is not easy to fix, so a middle ground could be the ability to select or favorite certain species, then to reset your map to year zero, and then be able to reintroduce those species. 2. I played the scenarios recently, it's actually quite nice being limited to only mutate along the branches. It could be a nice toggle or option or something to turn that on for sandbox, maybe only for mutation, so you can still create anything from scratch. 3. Being able to reintroduce a species via the mutation editor would be a nice option, so I don't have to drop in 50 of a species that I've made that is clearly not fit, and then hope I can mutate one after the "no-mutation" window ends. If I could just de-extinct by making edits would be nice. Alternatively; remove the time delay to be able to mutate a new species? 4. Mutation rates: I initially did this, and have seen other KZbinrs do this when first playing; including some warning about increasing the mutation rate could help. It seems like just throwing it to 25-50% is better for adaption, but 5-10 seems much better. Might maintain interest from some. 5. Potential suggestion: Part of the reason I spent so much time was that I was trying to figure out how to make a fire-resistant tree that could support nests, so that my starting island (which was almost constantly wrapped in firestorms), could hold animal eggs so they could survive the fire that way. After many hours in the editor, I figured it out, but the difficulty was in the balance of branches that could be placed, along with the number of leaves, and how that puts a cap on the maximum energy. When plants are in the top 2 sizes, it's very difficult to balance this. The main problem was understanding that the height of the tree was taking up all the energy balance, then secondary was figuring out how many leaves actually added energy before doing nothing. Perhaps something to visualize how far up a trunk is "high enough to avoid fire"? Side note, it was actually very satisfying to get to grips with it after a lot of trial and error, so that's a point against it. I'm guessing people will become frustrated before this (and the scenario I was trying to make work is probably quite niche).

[@TheSapling]

Took me a week, but I arrived at your feedback, thanks so much! 1-2. All covered in episode 6! 3-5 Thanks, feedback on QoL/clarity stuff from experienced players like you are super valuable to me, I'm making notes!

[@SobbleNo.1]

love the game! an interesting defence for the mushroom would be a poisonous "magic mushroom" which removes the animals instincts and/or adds random instincts for a limited time, affecting more intelligent animals more.

[@stray1239]

I love this video the host makes everything so enjoyable to watch he really is... a *fungi*

[@Scatterbrained_Watching]

They is actually music made by actual mushrooms! I’m not particularly well-versed in how it works, so I’m not even gonna attempt to explain that by memory, but it could be worth looking into! I love what you’ve already got going on though!

[@demariultraastra864]

I feel like you're really improving in the music department, that one at the end sound incredible!

[@blacklight683]

It's going to be fun-time with fun-gi Mr.funny-guy

[@usernamehere2418]

Delete it

[@mitchl5220]

Fungi is such a fantastic thing to add! I adore this game and love seeing you show off the work you do on it. The journey is so fun and your game updates brighten up my day. If you decide to expand on mushrooms maybe making them possibly grow as parasites to plants and even animals would be interesting? Also you could implement poisons kinda like with plants? Aquatic mushrooms similar to real life examples like Psathyrella aquatica would be super cool too! I also have another idea, bio-luminescence for fungi! In nature, glowing fungi do this to attract organisms such as fireflies so they land onto the mushroom and get their spores and spread them to new places. In your game, perhaps you could make it so animals which attract mates through bio-luminescence get deceived by the fungi and make contact, and then carry the spores somewhere else? Just a thought! Keep up the amazing work legend!

[@TheSapling]

Thanks so much for your kind words and your suggestions! Without making promises, I like them all!

[@godlypumpkin8745]

There should be a limit on how often a creature can change sex, that would depend on how many bodyparts and traits are changed. Maybe bodyparts that do the opposite: increase the limit, allowing for the creature to change form more often Also, since it is scary update, spider webs. And arthropod limbs

[@KaneyoriHK]

I think one common property of fungus here is underused. The sounds they make when hooked into diodes, odd sine patterns and fun sounds. I think that would fit better (PLUS ITS NOISE MADE BY THE FUNGI'S ELECTRICAL SIGNALS; its really cool) referring to music

[@stevenvasquez9869]

Ohh man! I would love to see those 🍄‍🟫 that could OVERRIDE instincts, like those mind control mushrooms that will let's say, make a creature "move toward pain" or only eat 1 color to spread more.

[@7HEMUFFINMAN]

Everybody gangster until someone makes the cordyceps mushroom in the sapling

[@connormccreesh1893]

This would be a cool differentiator for some fungi: the ability to temporarily inject an instinct 🔥

[@TheSapling]

Without making promises, it's an idea I like!

[@princeoftara7091]

Something you might want to add is different animal genders fighting eachother to gain a mate!

[@Vibri_VibRibbon]

honestly i'm SO happy that an evolution game like this is being made! i love evolution and learning about it yet no games seem to replicate it that well and if they do it's just not exactly really all that fun for me- THANK YOU!!!

[@sophieadams4155]

I love all the work you're putting into this game! Can you please add rocks so epiphyte plants can colonize them? Moss, ferns, orchids, bromeliads, carnivorous plants, lichens etc all use them irl. Those kinds of organisms could act as pioneer species too so do better or rocks or poorer soils until detritus/nutrients build up and then stronger plants can take their place.

[@TheSapling]

Without making promises, thanks for this inspiration!

[@Mig-Crafter]

Protista and fuuuuuuuuungi. prototaxies and moolds. the creatures like a bactéria and acheeeeeaaaaaa

[@keztannis6848]

Metallic Achea?!

[@Mig-Crafter]

virae and bactéria , protista and achea the microooooo oooooooorganisms

[@amber-ants]

Im just going to leave these here for you. Leaf cutter ants. Macrotermies termites.

[@TheSapling]

Thank you, indeed more words weren't needed (as always no promises)

[@gaiet]

Nah, fungi and $€X in sapling on the same update? Wessel is cooking

[@Mig-Crafter]

protista and fungi iiiiiiiinnn gameeeeee

[@zackbuildit88]

You don't need to censor the word sex on KZbin btw

[@hamburgerbroz6439]

awesome vid as usual! always great to see some more of your music explanations and analysis :)

[@akitaxzero]

This is so cool, every thing coming out of this update is fantastic!!! I cant wait to play around with all this

[@fernandovazquez1118]

This man casually, dropping another legendary update like its nothing

[@lars_larsen]

The fungi kingdom is fascinating and immensely diverse. I hope, your sim will be able to reflect that diversity.

[@David_Miller-Youtube]

Damn, he seems like a fun-guy (ba-dum-tsh)

[@blacklight683]

Can't wait for the bacteria and viruses update next up

[@gamingcat6034]

We need to make the fungi a fan favorite, I need dozens of details in my mushrooms. Spotted psychedelics.

[@_snowfall4795]

I'm so excited for mushrooms!! I know they're only simple in their representation here so far but they're the coolest form of life to me

[@teiomat5557]

I just discovered this game randomly today and I’m already obsessed with your videos. I just wish I had a PC that could run this!

[@Enginernikis]

That Fungal music is scarier than the body part's ngl

[@flechedesneiges5114]

Sometimes it feels like you're the next step in our evolution. Awesome thinking, awesome music, can't wait to have it !

[@roadie5316]

Thank you this is lovely. I’ve been waiting for it.

[@TheUnluckySaurus]

Dude I’m such a fan of your videos, your music, your talent and your knowledge. Ur devlogs always amaze me and inspire me so much 🔥🔥🔥🔥 this game will be such a banger🗿🔥👌🏻

[@homelesskoopa1308]

Honestly love this game so much, in my humble opinion, the best evolution simulator on the market, and it’s not even done yet!

[@KalleVonEi]

I just wanna say i love this project, Your game is rly fun Keep up the great work mate!!

[@thelordz33]

With everything going on in the sim now, there isn’t mushroom left.

[@zix2421]

Such a cool game, and I love mushrooms too ❤

[@sim-pli-s-te4015]

Great video dude this game is coming together so well! I think you should continue to expand on the fungi editor, I love these things sm ! >.

[@D3ltus]

From what I know, shrooms are like the fruit of mycelium, which grows from spores and then creates more shrooms; in this case, it spreads underground, consuming decaying matter, and usually, mycelium is great for the soil and plants, an indicator of good health. If you ever feel like it, could you give this a thought?, you could add mycelium to the game with benefits to the ground where it spawns. It needs humidity and some other stuff, usually temperate temperatures, in my yard I don't get shrooms all year and even the ground has varying extensions of mycelium depending on when I dig. Your game's super cool man, I'm always happy to watch new updates, so I hope this could be of use. Have a good one!

[@TheSapling]

Hey thanks for your input! I definitely tried to get mycelium work but couldn't, you could think of this episode as an attempt to add fungi anyway. I haven't given up though!

[@wipeout1445]

progress seems so fast, good work man

[@miguelpp8342]

If this man keeps working like this, he'll manage to recreate a 1:1 simulation of the Earth

[@BionicleFreek99]

Hell yea, hell yea! Definitely going to buy this game now that it has fungi.

[@poimon5607]

Oh, that's asymmetrical. That's asymmetrical of my comfort icon

[@ArcticTron]

You know one thing that might be interesting is that on Earth a decent amount of plants have symbiotic fungi in their roots, which I believe do sprout mushrooms. That might be an interesting feature to add in the future.

[@pyritenightmare]

I hope this gets expanded in the future with plant instincts. Mycorrhizal fungi would be important for that, spreading chemical signals beyond just the plant's radius. It could also allow for areas normally unable to be colonized by plants to be so by having a nutrient network, possibly giving a use for some plants to generate more energy than needed to reproduce normally.

[@zackcool333_5]

This is a pretty fun guy

[@justmarcoriginal]

We are literally ONE step away from single and multicellular organisms. Absolutely great job man, the fact that this is a sole man's project is just INSANE to me.

[@user-yo8kl9bg1j]

I think brain/sapience thing update is more intriguing.Complex behaviours, individuals family trees,more convenient cladogram.I would like him to add this to the game in the future. Of course, it will be difficult to make such update, which will only be possible after the project grows further

[@justmarcoriginal]

@@user-yo8kl9bg1j I also tought of that but he said he probably wouldnt add intelligence as even we humans still dont understand how it works. But well maybe if the community gives him enough support then maybe one day we'll get there

[@Leyva0scarVRL]

​@@user-yo8kl9bg1j so dificult in fact it never happening

[@user-yo8kl9bg1j]

@@justmarcoriginal You can make a simple brain system like in the game The Bibites. It is not necessary to simulate intelligence. Let’s say there are 20 qualities, depicted as circles, which can be connected to each other, like neurons. And this is how a grid of intelligence is obtained. This is already in instincts like “you see the light - go from there,” but I would like to be more sophisticated. We also need a convenient (and not the same as now) cladogram, where you can look from the first ancestor to the last living descendant(Look at the cladogram in the game Species ALRE or The Bibites.)Also, in addition to intelligence in the form of neurons, you can add personality traits (aggressive, gluttonous, etc.) as well as skills (speed) that can be developed by an individual, and not the entire species. Well, I think Wessel will add a more plastic creature designer so that the bones are visible and you can make them upright.

[@justmarcoriginal]

@@user-yo8kl9bg1j Yeah I already tought about recommending this but never had the patience to do ACTUAL research

[@patrioticallynitorian4818]

I rember asking for fungi a long time ago i am so happy it is being added to the game

[@TofifiPlays]

I made that suggestion long time ago so happy to see it Also I would love to see one celled organisms like bacteria and viruses that could infect other organisms

[@xyntia_]

As always it look very cool, can't wait to try it out !

[@Whatifhistory-h2v]

I can't wait for this update!

[@sayanmullick7559]

4:39 You Sure that's not a dangerous mushroom? I mean even if the mushroom safe,the spores might cause a problem in system if inhaled accidentally right ? Please someone inform me I have 0 ideas on Mushroom

[@catowisdom1922]

i feel we may be heading down the route of adding LUCA to this. (The last universal common ancestor of every living thing on earth)

[@arturzimplayerpro2573]

you are my favourite composer and musician!

[@Tom_Quixote]

I haven't even bought this game, I just think it's fun to see what you come up with.

[@d1g1beastpr1me7]

Hello again sir! If you're looking to expand your repotiore of fungus based music, I've got some inspirations for you :D. A couple of people have hooked up electrodes to fungi and gotten sounds out of them, similar to that thing with spider's webs. My favorite is 'Mycelium' by Cosmo Sheldrake. He made it for his brother, who happens to be a somewhat well renowned mycologist! Also some of the tracks from the playlist of 'Journey to the Microcosmos' strike me as a bit "fungusy", if that's a word. It's a strange mix of whimsical and malevolently mysterious for me personally As to the actual video, man I'm so excited! I saw a couple people recommend ways of showing visible mycelium like veins on the ground and an overlay map, which were really good. Me personally, I would've just made soil darker to indicate the richness in nutrient, but that's definitely alot less visual. I'm really looking forward to more fungus variety, especially lichens and other symbiosis and my favorite type of mushroom: stinkhorns! As per usual your content is enjoyable and inspiring. I wish you well

[@d1g1beastpr1me7]

P.S.: Does this new development mean we might see stuff that previously wasn't in the cards? Like zooplankton?

[@TheSapling]

Thanks so much for this inspiringly reply

[@GastropodGaming2006]

It'd be fun to create those gigantic ancient fungi in The Sapling.

[@scruffles3838]

Damn he's going hard

[@denifnaf5874]

Can't wait for the slime mold and real time mossgrowth

[@connordarvall8482]

I would like to see some kind of representation of the mighty hyphae, but that would end up effectively being its own entire system. Apparently, fungi can grow colonies the size of entire countries and shift nutrient around to wherever it needs trees to grow.

[@rafaelcruzs2]

Fungus amongus update hype

[@thomashelsign7753]

check out "mushroom trees" from the devonian period

[@alexzhukovsky8361]

I absolutely love these videos

[@death_bull_7_428]

My very happy that fungi/mushrooms are in the game 🎉. And I know that you just want to add animals that are very visual but some sort of insect type animals would be great, especially with the carnivores plants.

[@marthasimwanza3280]

new scinaero and new life this update keeps getting better and better

[@godlypumpkin8745]

Idea: nests can be built of different size, bigger nests require more time and energy to create, but can fit several animals of the same specie

[@flegyptosaurus2099]

ah! i was gonna comment like yesterday or two days ago about fungi. lovely to see

[@sayethwe8683]

instead of "scale vertical" as a boolean, perhaps a "scale by" matrix with coefficients for each dimension. 0 is no scale, but it allows you do to half scaling as well

[@TheSapling]

Interesting suggestion, thanks!

[@SpringDavid]

can't wait for the "santient species" and "natural disasters" updates

[@GoodrichthysEskdalensis]

The natural disaster update already happened with the food and fire update.

[@Leyva0scarVRL]

And sapient species is never happening

[@luigibezmenov5346]

I’m excited for the next update, it’s looking really good! I would like to add my two cents for this specific part of the update that I think would be reasonable and fun to simulate. I do think that the basic fungi being a detritivore with a fruiting body is a fantastic start, however, with this being a speculative evolution game I feel like the organism type would be almost wasted if it was limited in body shape and role. Fungal forests would be a really cool concept and it is something that has happened historically (see prototaxites) It would also be nice to see fungi possibly take a more active role other than passive detritivore in attacking live plants, with certain species being able to attack woody stems and others being able to attack fleshy stems (although I’m not sure how you would be able to visualize that) or perhaps certain fungi being able to kill animals in order to create detritus for their offspring (best guess I can give to visualizing that would be a static hazard like your carnivorous plants) Honestly though, typing this out makes me realize that these last ideas would be pretty difficult to implement due to visualization issues but I really would like to see you consider the fungal forest bit. Maybe it would be an interesting alternative to a plant dominated landscape, and I’m sure the bioluminescence would be cool

[@TheSapling]

Thanks you so much! Without making promises, I think all of these ideas are super cool

[@whitegorilla1368]

The mushrooms are just the fruits of the fungus, you should make it so that for some species the fungus itself is mycelium under the soil, which can be seen with a toggable button that shows if the tile has mycelium in it like how you have it show if theres nutrients in the soil. This allows for potential megaorganisms to form and adds variety. I would be very interested to seeing how multiple megacolonies of fungus interact with each other and how non colony forming fungus interact with them too

[@montana2796]

THIS IS SO GOOD

[@gayrurumon]

New fungus just dropped.

[@Xx_graveleater_xX]

This is great i also have ideas for a evolution game here are some o the features FEATURES - Sea urchins - Animal/plant editor - kelp - rockpools - water

[@connormccreesh1893]

A thought: land created by volcanos should have a minimal, but not zero, nutrients. So hardy plants and fungi can settle there to start building complexity over time. I often like adding some random volcanos in the sea so I can generate fresh land when ecosystems balance out.

[@TheSapling]

Didn't think of this, thanks for the suggestion!

[@hunted4blood]

We the people, do respectfully demand parasitic fungi. Thank you for your consideration.

[@TheSapling]

Without making promises, it's an idea I like!

[@darklordofsword]

And now we can literally recreate the Ordivician conditions.

[@frumpkin9282]

It would be cool to have parts inspired by the massive fungi 'trees' which existed between the Silurian and Devonian periods.